I don’t remember a day this nice since September 11, 2001. It’s a perfect summer day right smack-dab in the middle of April. Yesterday wasn’t too shabby either. I think we were wise to choose Maine as this summer’s vacation spot. It would probably be smart to invest in rental properties in New England because who is going to go to Florida or the Outer Banks when it’s 120 degrees out?
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
It’s a great question. And it applies to the entire southern tier of the US. Also, who will go to those places when they run out of water? And where will the people who live there now go.
I am already a convert. Last summer we had heat waves that were more than fifteen degrees hotter than anything I’ve ever experienced here, or anywhere outside of Death Valley and parts of Arizona.
Maine is beautiful, but freaky weather can hit there, too. I encountered 100-degree temperatures there one August (a month before 9/11, in fact). That was a strange year on many levels.
Unlike Flordida, we have all four seasons. Winter, June, July and August.
(There has been measurable snow in Portland in all but those three months. This year, October had more snowfall than March….)
Yeah, parts of New York had a half a foot or more of snow one day in October and hardly any snow after that.
Ditto North Shore Massachusetts.
As someone who lives 60 miles inland from the Outer Banks, I’ve had moments of genuine anxiety contemplating the coming summer. After an extremely mild winter, the mosquitoes are going to be the size of vampire bats. Last summer, we had unrelenting months of highs well over 90º. I said to my husband last night, “This is April. Does this mean weeks or months of highs over 110º starting in June?
I cannot tolerate heat and humidity. I fear power black-outs, envision surviving in my car’s air conditioning until my husband can set up our generator to run a window unit. I don’t think we should bother planting a garden. Last year, even with watering from our well, almost everything died by the end of July. The plants were simply cooked in the ground. I only managed to pick blueberries by going out at 5am and even then it was over 85º. The heat never let up all summer long and well into autumn.
So a beautiful day like today is filling me with dread and horrifying expectations.
FWIW This March is the warmest March EVER recorded in Northern Illinois. And precipitation was 49% of normal. Followed by a week in April of freezing (happens a lot but trees are usually dormant not in full flower).
My peaches are wiped out. Don’t know how the commercial orchardists fared but it’s probably not good. March drought doesn’t bode well for Illinois’ corn crop either.
This weeks average here is 57 high and 33 low.
Maine, eh?
Which town?
I’m a Camden/Rockport/Rockland guy. My parents moved there after left for to college and my two brothers + nephew grew up in the area. One remains there yet.
AG
Bar Harbor area.
You mean Bah Hahbah, right?
Didja know the classic Bert and I albums are now available on CD?
http://www.islandportpress.com/bertandi/index.html